“It is the greatest feeling just to play in this tournament,” a jubilant Tomic said.

“It got a bit scary in the third, but I’m glad I pulled it off in three. Anything could have happened in that fourth set.”

Tomic was in control from virtually start to finish, calmly fighting off two set points in the third set, before clinching the tiebreaker with a scorching backhand cross-court pass.

One more win would likely pit Tomic into a blockbuster third-round clash with world No.1 Rafael Nadal.

Earlier, fellow Australian wildcard Sally Peers lost her first-round women’s match 6-2 6-4 to Czech 25th seed Petra Kvitova, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year and the winner of the season-opening Brisbane International.